Following a critical series of articles in three Maine newspapers this week, Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s (R) office has cut off those papers’ access to administration officials.

The same week the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal, and the Morning Sentinel published an in-depth analysis of the administration’s work to undermine environmental protections, a spokeswoman told them they would no longer respond to requests, even for public documents, because the newspaper’s parent company “made it clear that it opposed this administration.”

The papers conducted an extensive investigation into a former corporate lobbyist appointed by LePage to be commissioner of Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). What they found was that Patricia Aho has fought environmental laws and enforcement since her appointment in 2011. The positions she has taken include blocking implementation of a 2008 law to protect youth from dangerous chemicals, reducing enforcement on land developers, rolling back recycling programs, and purging information from the Department’s website. Each of these efforts benefit her former clients in the chemical, drug, oil, and real estate industries.

In one article, the Press Herald describes a DEP with significant limitations placed on staff. Colin Woodard quotes a former director saying, “There was an immediate gag order put on staff and on staff’s ability to freely interact with the public and talk about environmental concerns or to make requirements of people.” The DEP has eliminated tens of thousands of pages from its website, including the official state climate change report.

Certain tactics carry over into other areas of LePage’s administration, considering its new policy to limit staff interaction with journalists doing their jobs. LePage himself has fought against increased wind energy targets, while touting conspiracies like the wind industry faking it with electric motors to pretend “wind power works.”

LePage has also threatened to veto an energy bill that increases energy efficiency and renewable energy targets.

What is “wrong” is that the state’s vote was extremely split between an independent candidate and the democratic candidate. So despite 61.7% of the state voting for anyone but LePage, his 38.3% ended up being the most support for a single candidate.

So believe me when I say, the vast majority of Maine voters did not want this guy in office.

It is too bad the Eliot Cutler did not win. He was a founder of a major environmental law practice. Things would have been so different. From Wikipedia, Cutler “served as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the Office of Management and Budget in the Carter administration”

It was because he and the Democrats had bigger egos than brains that led to LePage winning a three way split. If progressives in Maine, especially cutler, really cared about the state they would push for majority vote elections with instant run offs rather than giving LePage a chance at a second term./

As Walter Karp pointed out in ‘Indispensible Enemies’, if there is a strong, insurgent, candidate, either and Independent or a renegade from the duopoly, the big parties will co-operate to crush it, and ensure that a mainstream candidate always wins. It’s unsurprising to see that the tradition lives on.

can you say lawsuit and direct violation of the first amendment rights of the press? he is only mad because they are digging into his administration. people of maine have a right to know what is going on. heres to the next SCOTUS case!

The sad thing is, is that over 60% of us in maine voted against him. Problem was those votes were split among an independent and the democrat. Most of us knew this guy was a sleaze before he even took office.

I now very much regret voting for Mr. Obama the second time. If we never vote for independents, then the Democratic Party never has to do anything real, simply be less awful than the Republican candidate, and speak in complete sentences. I’m sorry, that’s not good enough.